Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Accessing non-selectable text

When installing new software, or signing up for a new service, I actually read the license. Sometimes. For services, especially financial ones (such as credit cards) it can pay to read the fine print. I usually save a copy of the text in a file so can refer to it in the future, in case I need to.

When installing programs, there is usually a window with a scrollbar and a whole lot of text. I find it easier to copy and paste it to another (bigger) window.

Problem: sometimes you can't copy the text out of the box.I remember a few years ago some tool or tweak on Windows that would let you copy the text from arbitrary dialog boxes (this was useful for getting error messages). Does that tool still exist/work? Something to dig deeper into the objects on the screen.

About Me

I have worked mostly with small companies / start-ups, building whatever is required and chasing moving targets. I still do some of this, keeping up on technology, tools, and trying to stay bleeding edge. (There's too many edges though.)

I like to know how things work, including the internet, physics, science, chemistry, biology.